


One Last Tender Place

by The_Inebriated_Literary_Virtuoso



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Cats, Getting Together, Grumpy Old Men, Humor, M/M, PTSD, Romance, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-28 20:04:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18763255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Inebriated_Literary_Virtuoso/pseuds/The_Inebriated_Literary_Virtuoso
Summary: Two cats bring two men together in a meet-cute for the ages. In which Jack Morrison deserves all the happiness I can give him and in which Gabriel Reyes acquires an emotional support bastard.





	One Last Tender Place

The light streams in softly through the window and if Jack were a better man, or maybe an artistic man, he’d appreciate the way the sun catches his skin and warms him. He’d appreciate the way the light catches the prism of glass gifted to him by Fareeha, causing a rainbow-like strip to run down his face and torso. He’d appreciate the way the curtains above the window sway slightly, winds coming and going like his absent thoughts. He’d appreciate the smell of the spring, dirt and rain like his childhood home and he’d breathe deeply, relishing in the smells. As it is, Jack is neither of those things, so he promptly gets up, draws the shutters of his apartment and lays there for a few moments. 

He looks over, the clock stares back at him reading 10:00AM, he sighs and lifts himself up out of bed.

As he softly pads to the kitchen, donning only boxers and a t-shirt, he thinks about what he’ll do today on a late Sunday morning. He thinks about keeping to himself in the relative peace of his quiet apartment, but then thinks better of it. PTSD be damned, he will finally take Ana up on her offer to go to Sunday dinner. Calling her proves to be a bit difficult when he can’t find the effort to do so.

“Jack? Is that you?”

“Know a lot of Jack Morrisons?” He smirks just as he hears her snort over the line

“No, but it’s been a while, Jack.” Her voice is tinged with concern, Jack knows it’s only the surface of her true emotions. She’s always been more like family, much like family she pesters him but she loves him and cares for him in equal measure. He still remembers the day when she came into his apartment and gave him a stern talk. Her eyes betrayed it all; she worried about him. Worried what coming home from war had done. He is coming to the realization that perhaps she was more right than he’d been willing to admit at first.

He thinks about how to start this conversation. He knows that getting better is a process and that learning to be himself will take time and concentrated efforts. 

“Yeah it has. I missed you and the family.” His voice cracks unexpectedly. He’s not sure how long it’s actually been, time working slow and faster in a weird warp of time since he’s been back.

“Everyone misses you, Jack.” Her voice is soft, sad. Jack would believe it to be pity if he didn’t know it so well. She’s sad, but she’s hopeful like she always has been. War never took that from her. Not like it had taken everything from Jack.

“I know. I was wondering,” he clears his throat, “maybe I could drop by today for dinner if you have room?” 

He leaves it a question, let’s her deny him if she so pleases. He’s denied so many dinners it seems only fair. 

“We’d love that!” She says a bit too quickly, like she wasn’t expecting it. She shouldn’t have either, Jack hasn’t been the best company.

He chuckles to himself. “Okay, I’ll be by around 6.”

“Good! You don’t have to bring anything or anyone, just yourself is fine.”

 

When Jack arrives to her home the one to open the door is Lena. He wonders if she knows how much he admires her. Admires the way that war, hardships, and bigotry have not changed her. The smile she greets him with is genuine and Jack, not for the first time, has the fleeting thought that if the world were full of more Lena Oxton’s there would hardly be problems. 

“Jack! Hi there, love!” Lena exclaims as she wraps her arms around his neck in a hug.

As opposing as they are, him being gruff and standoffish, she is open and kind, soft in a world that has taught her time and time again that she shouldn’t be, he can’t help but find himself gravitating toward her as friend, even with the age difference. She reminds him of a younger him, idealistic, but far from naïve. He imagines if maybe he’d never wavered, if maybe he’d stuck to his guns and not let the world change him, he might be a little more like Lena. He now settles for trying to make himself a person she’d be proud of.

“Hi there, kiddo. Been a while.”

She laughs, bubbly and bright, “Well it has been months! Glad to have you back.”

Before he can say anything else he’s met with Reinhardt’s stocky frame, Ana following closely behind him.

“My friend, it is so good to see you!” He smiles an honest smile, a smile that Jack returns if only with less enthusiasm. No one has ever been able to match his enthusiasm, it’s a force of nature.

“It has. I figured it was time to join the land of the living.”

Reinhardt gives him a soft look, the kind of look like a man saved and Jack wonders not for the first time what he did to deserve a family like this. 

“It’s what you deserve,” which is said uncharacteristically quiet, then the moment shifts and he smiles between Ana and Jack, “but won’t you come in! Everyone is here to greet you!”

They lead him into the house, Ana leans in to whisper in his ear as he walks by, “Nice to have you back.” And he feels like slowly he’s going to return the person he was months before everything happened.

In the living room and dining room Fareeha is standing next to Angela, leaning in closely and they’re smiling at one another. McCree is grinning at him as he takes Hanzo’s hand and they greet him. Jesse is grinning bright, charming while Hanzo has a barely contained frown.

“Well look what the cat dragged in!” He exclaims. 

Jesse and Jack’s relationship has never been a clear one. The younger man is clever, charming, and outgoing. He is boisterous, flirtatious, a smiling force of nature. Jack has always been the opposite. He is reserved, not one to let his emotions get the best of him. Jesse McCree is an emotional, volatile, burly man. Jack admires his ability to live his life as openly and honestly as he does. He’s known him since he was a snot nosed kid that Ana had saved off the streets, claiming the potential there was unlike anything else she’d ever seen. He knows Jesse lives a life he’s sure his family would be proud of these days. Inexplicably he finds himself smiling softly at McCree and Hanzo. It’s the way they hold hands like they belong there. Jack finds himself reeling at the realization that people he’s known for so long can change so quickly when he isn’t looking. It’s the soft smiles and exchanges. Jack never got that in the military. Maybe one day it could have been Vincent, but that time has come and gone. He doesn’t regret it, but he feels wistful as he looks at these two men who very obviously care for each other.

“It certainly has been a while.” Hanzo remarked.

Jesse’s partner has shown Jack that there is a mutual respect there. When Genji showed up, scarred, battered, and broken, Jack and Ana didn’t ask questions. Angela patched him up and Zenyatta helped him through his trauma. A patchwork man in a patchwork family; he fit perfectly. There was no need to make him talk about things they would never understand. When Hanzo arrived without explanation months after the fact, apologies in hand and a desperation for redemption they hadn’t batted an eye. Jack could see it in his eyes sometimes, the darkness that lingered there. They drank in companionable silence on days when they could be bothered to see one another. It was implied that while both men certainly didn’t know anything about each other, their demons sought company, and it was enough to form a precarious bond through which Jack understood most of the darkness in Hanzo’s eyes. 

“I’ve been working on coming back. I’ll try to be around more often.”

McCree gives him the brightest smile. “Well it’s just as good. Ana misses havin’ you around. Plus her friend from basic just arrived to town and you’ll finally get the chance to meet ‘im!” 

Hanzo nods. “And perhaps we can go for a drink.”

It’s as sincere an offer as he’s ever going to get. It’s an outstretched hand in the darkness Jack has let himself live in for too long. He gives them both a small smile. “Soon.” is all he says.

They offer Jack a drink and just as he takes a sip Fareeha walks up to him with Angela. 

“Jack, I see my mother has finally blackmailed you into leaving your house.”

He chuckles. “I actually left the house on my own.”

She smiles at him. He’s beginning to realize the amount of smiles he’s being given have to mean something. 

“Well I’m glad you’re here. Angela and I had an idea we thought we’d talk to you about.”

Angela, beautiful blonde hair and bright eyes, gives him a soft look he has to imagine she’s used on countless patients.

“We have considered ways to help you and thought perhaps you would consider getting a pet.”

McCree laughs beside them. “Fareeha, look who you’re talkin’ to!”

Jack frowned at him but gave them a confused look. “Though I hate to admit it, McCree is right. I’m getting old, ladies. An old man like me doesn’t need a puppy full of energy.”

He won’t talk about how he’s always wanted a dog, but after decades alone and dealing with violent nightmares, he’s not sure taking care of something so fragile and innocent is something he’s capable of. He still remembers Vincent saying something along those lines before he left.

Angela smiles softly. “Not so much a big responsibility. Maybe a cat perhaps! Just something to look forward to and to help you. Emotional support animals have proven to greatly increase mental health.”

Jack sighs. “I’ll think about it. I appreciate the thought though.”

They give him soft smiles and turn to talk to Ana. After walking around the room, eating and talking for a bit, Jack bids everyone good evening and goes home. Once there he peels off all his clothes and lays in bed. He thinks about dog and cats and how much he misses having someone in the bed next to him. He drifts to sleep and prays that the light streaming through the windows doesn’t wake him.

  
  
  


If you told Gabriel that rescuing a small, crying, wet kitten would lead to him having the most ungrateful bastard in the world he wouldn’t have believed you.

Now, not so much. 

“ _Oye! Pinche cabrón!_ ” He’s yelling at Theo.

Theo is meowing and looking at him from two feet away. The dirt from the plants on the window sill and all the plants that now litter the ground are a testament to his crimes. Gabriel looks at his shit eating glare and swears that after six years this will be the time he finally sends the motherfucker back to the shelter. Theo knows, intrinsically, that he’ll never do it.

“Oh good, nice to see that someone is keeping you occupied.” He hears Ana, before he sees her.

He looks up to find her sitting next to Theo on the couch. They have identical looks of disdain. He just glares at them both.

“Don’t you have better things to do than bother me about my cleaning habits?”

Theo purrs as she pets him softly. Birds of a feather as they always say.

“Not really, no. Besides, I just wanted to check in on you. How are you, Gabriel?”

He glares at the cat as he finishes cleaning, but he considers her question. He hasn’t had an episode for a while and the nightmares have been less frequent. Theo, for all his quirks and shitty attitude and selfish disdain for others, has helped him. He feels better. He feels more like himself, at least the self he was before he went into testing. He feels his own mood improve, though nothing can help what he finds to be his curmudgeonly attitude. He’s thoroughly over finding someone to fill his days and nights with noise, he stops seeking company unless he really wants it. He is now coming to the realization that he might become a hermit with only his cat to talk to. He’s doing good otherwise.

“Good. Fine. Cleaning up after this asshole.”

Ana chuckles. “Don’t talk about your son this way, Gabriel.”

“I would if he weren’t such an ingrate.”

There’s a lag of peaceful silence as Gabriel settles on the couch opposite of her. He knows she has something to say, or something to tell him. She always does when she comes to bother him.

“Just get it out.” He says immediately. He loves her but he’s not in the mood for bullshit. Of which this conversation seems to be plentiful.

“I’m sure I have no idea what you mean.” She says, aloof. See? _Bullshit._

He smirked while trying to hold in his laughter. “Ana, we’ve known each other for more than twenty years, I know when you have something to say. So say it.”

She crosses her legs and looks at him. “Well since you mention it,” _oh no_ , “I have a friend. Who seems to be in a bit of the same spot you’ve been in…”

“No.” He says abruptly, as he shakes his head.

She frowns. “You haven’t even heard what I was going to say.”

He sighs, looking at her pointedly. “I have it on good authority that this is exactly how McCree and that boyfriend of his happened. You point two people in one direction, meddle a little bit, and then suddenly they’re at functions together and stuck in a goddamn supply closet-”

“That was one time!”

He raises an eyebrow. “Regardless, I’m not letting you play matchmaker. I’m doing fine right now. Why need to change it?”

She looks at him, gives him that looks at almost always nearly breaks him. She’s trying to make sure he has a good life and while he appreciates the sentiment he can’t imagine that any man over fifty would want a partner with so much baggage. He’s got ghosts that reside in his skin, no man would want that.

“Wouldn’t it be something to think about if you could make it better?”

Theo meows and Gabe knows he’s officially lost. 

“I’ll meet him once. That’s it.”

Ana gives him a grin like a shark. He wonders if he can send Ana back to the same place he’ll send Theo. 

  
  


Jack looks in on the pets, watching as volunteers play with cats that jump and ramp and some just lounge in the sun by the windows. 

“Can I help you?” He hears an enthusiastic voice behind him.

He turns around to find a woman smiling at him. He fidgets. He’s not sure what he’s doing here. It seems stupid now that he thinks about it. Maybe he shouldn’t have come.

“My niece’s wife thinks I need an emotional support animal.” He finds himself telling her, against his better judgement. He finds himself timid here, which is surprising. In the military he had always been such a confident man. Throw him guns, ammo, or explosives, he’ll have a strategy in under fifteen seconds. But here, surrounded by families and cats and dogs and smiling faces? He feels completely out of his depth.

She just nods. “Of course! Well we have a beautiful cat here that actually loves company, is generally well mannered, and he’s a cutie.” 

She leads him to a room with a cat tree in the corner and an orange tabby that immediately starts to rub against his legs. He looks down at the offending animal, finding himself actually charmed. The cat reminds him of Lena in her perpetually orange track outfits. 

“So this is Simon, one of our volunteers named him for the movie Love, Simon.”

Jack smiles at this. He knows the movie only because Lena had forced him to sit down with Emily and watch it as a family. They had both cried. He’d felt different after the movie. It was a different time for people now. He watched the movie, wiping his eyes from the tears he’d been surprised to find on his face. He thought about what his life would have been like if he’d been younger, if he’d been encouraged to love people in a way that he hadn’t understood. He thinks about this cat, Simon. How he rubs against Jack, a complete stranger. He gives his affection freely, without reserve. Jack has, over the years, wished that he could give affection that easily. He finds himself struggling with the words, hoping people will just take his actions as language and interpret them as love. It never worked. 

“It’s a good name.” He finds himself smiling. 

The girl smiles brightly. “He’s really taken a shine to you. Feel free to get down and let him play with you if you want!”

He carefully does, squatting down to get a better look at Simon. The boy has green eyes that look back at him kindly. He reaches out his hand and Simon puts his head in Jack’s hand. Hands that, for the better part of the last thirty years have seen blood and made decisions that no man could ever forgive him for. He’s seen so much blood and killed so many people. But Simon purrs and looks as though he’s smiling. Jack finds something in his chest is blooming softly. 

“Does he have a home?”

The girl smiles impossibly wider. “No, but you’re welcome to give him one.”

He takes Simon home, carrying tons of cat food, litter, toys, and blankets along with him as they make way into the apartment. The moment that Simon walks through the door he begins to rub his scent all over the sparse one bedroom. He purrs so loudly Jack chuckles. As he’s putting away litter and watching his cat jump up on his window sill he calls Ana. On the second ring she picks up.

“Jack. Two calls in one week. Be careful or I might believe you’re going to come around more often.”

“I got a cat.” He blurts out immediately. 

She chuckles. “Well that certainly didn’t take long. What’s its name?”

He looks over to find Simon bathing in the sun. His eyes are closed, a look of contentment on his face. “Simon.”

He can tell she’s smiling. 

“Like Love, Simon. Lena is gonna have a field day.”

Jack chuckled. “Yeah. Maybe you all can come over and see him for yourselves.”

He’s been feeling more like himself these days. There’s less nightmares in the wee hours of the morning and more breakfasts with the sun streaming in. 

“You’ve never asked us to come to your apartment.” Ana says, shocked only slightly.

“You never asked.” He says quietly. It’s not accusatory, but he realizes just how far gone he’s been lately. He’s built a fortress of a one bedroom apartment. 

“Of course we’d love to come see him.” She sounds like she might start crying. Jack hadn’t realized that she was this worried about him. It’s a damn cat.

“Maybe tomorrow then.” He says softly. He leaves it open, like the dinner invitation. He wants to make sure that she has the room to say no. If she could hear his thoughts she’d reprimand him for believing that she wouldn’t want to see him after all this time by himself. He’s trying to get better. 

“Of course, Jack. Oh, and by the way, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

He sighs. “Ana, not again.”

He’s spent the better part of his adulthood after Vincent trying to beat off Ana’s attempts to set him up. He’s not holding out for Vincent, not anymore. But he’s sure that there are very few men who would be willing to put up with the type of trauma Jack is carrying around. Not all men want a man who has night terrors and can barely leave his apartment. Plus, he’s gotten old when no one was looking, the white hair came first, the scars second, and now the only men who want to date him are young enough to be Fareeha’s age. He discovered that the hard way. He’s not interested in young men with no real idea of what it means to date an ex-soldier.

She’s chuckling before he can say more. 

“You’ll like this one. I swear.”

“You said that about the last three.” He scolds her. It’s not that he hasn’t tried. He’d love to have someone to laugh with, to eat meals with, to go exploring the city again. It wouldn’t hurt to feel young again, to have someone to hold and care for. He’s passed the point of wanting sex. He wants a home, a quiet one, where Simon sits in the window and he and his partner can have quiet smiles over coffee on lazy sundays. He wants it all. It’s just a matter of others wanting it with him first.

“I mean it with this one!” She says, far more enthused than Jack feels.

He sighs. “Not now, Ana. Maybe soon, but not right now.”

He hears her give a soft sigh on the other side of the phone, a sudden silence and then, “I missed this, Jack. I missed you.”

He’s been home for ten years but he understands what she means. For the better part of the decade he’s been a ghost. He’s drifted and moved in silence. If he’s being honest, if he died right now there are very few people who would give a shit. He remembers when he used to give a shit. When he cared about what was right, what was just, what was fair. He destroyed his life for those principles. He gave up a family and a home and a husband to do what was right. After being left for dead in the desert he realized that it’s all been wasted. Now he just wants to chase after the dream of a loving husband and a quiet home. He woke up that day and realized he’s been so scared of what that would mean. Opening up to someone new. But he reminds himself that good things don’t come easy, he has to. He realized when he woke up and called her that Sunday that if he changes the course of his life he might end up with something, or someone, worthwhile. 

“I missed you so much. I’m sorry that I haven’t been around the last few years. I know that it impacted Fareeha and Jesse.”

“They’re grown up, Jack. We all just wanted to help but we didn’t want you to feel pressured to get better right away. It’s your process.”

For some reason his eyes water. 

She continues. “For a moment there we thought we’d officially lost you to what happened overseas. We thought we’d have to bury you with all the things you never got the chance to overcome. Angela and Fareeha were worried you wouldn’t be there to see them married. All that matters now is that you’re getting better. You will be better, Jack.”

“It felt like I was so lost I couldn’t find my way. I don’t want to stay lost, Ana.” He realizes that his voice cracks, but he’s rarely showed the people in his life that he feels things so deeply, perhaps it’s time that he does. He doesn’t want to be an old man with regrets. He wants to live a life he’d be proud of when all is said and done. 

“Silly boy,” she says, and he can tell she’s crying, “All we ever wanted to do, was find you.”

  
  


Gabriel is sitting at his kitchen table, looking out the window with Theo when he notices something strange. The bastard begins to meow as loud as he can. Gabriel looks down into the courtyard of the apartment complex to see what all the fuss is about.

“What is it, _mijo_?” He says, softly to the cat. Theo just paws at the window. 

That’s when Gabriel spots him. The other cat in the window. He sees that the cat is also meowing. They are meowing at each other, he thinks. Theo isn’t looking away and Gabriel is amused to say the least. 

“Huh,” Gabriel says, “turns out you can make friends.”

He looks at his cat who gives him a disdainful look. “I never wanna see you attack another dog again. You can’t play dumb either, I’m on to you.”

Theo only meows. So engrossed is he in his new friend that Gabriel opens the window and finds that they’re trying to talk to each other across the courtyard. He thinks it’s only slightly pathetic that his cat talks to more people on the regular than he does. 

Gabriel chuckles, walks away, thinking nothing of it.

 

When Jack gets home from work he is immediately greeted to Simon rubbing again he leg. He smiles softly at the small pet and as he reaches to pet him Simon immediately bolts away. Jack makes his way slowly through the apartment, putting down his keys and such. As he makes his way into the bedroom he sees Simon clawing at the window curtains. His attention remains on the window, meowing loudly. 

“Hey, buddy, what is it?” Jack asks. Simon only meows loudly in response and paws at the curtain blocking the window again. 

Jack walks over to the window, lifting the curtain to see what is bothering Simon so greatly. Simon immediately jumps onto the window sill and begins meowing loudly. Jack looks out the window to see what it is that has Simon so out of sorts. What he’s greeted with is another cat a few floors up and across from them in the courtyard. The cat is also meowing and as soon as Jack opens the window they both sit and meow in response to each other. 

For no reason he’s strangely moved by the sight. His cat, a small orange tabby with green eyes, is so excited for his new friend. He even looks happy from what books on cat body language have told Jack. He feels that blooming in his chest again. His cat is capable of making friends, the cat who was beaten and abused, taken advantage of. He’s capable of great things, like making friends. 

It gives Jack hope that maybe one day he can do the same. Simon has officially begun his daily meeting with his friend when a knock at his door disrupts the moment. 

“Jack!” Lena calls out. 

He forgot that they’re all supposed to see Simon today. He makes his way to the front door just as Lena is poised to knock again. Behind her are Fareeha, Angela, Anna, and McCree. 

“Howdy, Morrison!” McCree greets him with a tip of his hat. 

Jack finds himself smiling at his family. “Hey. Come in, all of you. Simon is a bit busy at the moment.”

Ana gives him a questioning look. “Busy? He’s a cat.”

Jack leads them to his bedroom, pointing to where he’s talking to his new friend. “He made a new friend.”

“Well I’ll be.” McCree says with a chuckle. He is the first to approach the cat. Simon is still meowing but he rubs softly against McCree’s beard. He chuckles and the sight give Jack a satisfaction he hadn’t known he was searching for. He’s secretly very pleased that Simon seems to like them all. 

Lena is surprisingly gentle and quiet when she approaches the small tabby. Her eyes are wide in wonder. “He’s quite beautiful, Jack. Em would love to see him! And the name, Simon! Perfect.” 

Jack smiles softly at her as she pets Simon. “I kind of knew you’d love it. I got him because of that movie you made me watch.”

She looks up with the most innocent and wondrous look in her eyes. Jack imagines if he ever had kids, he’d want a daughter. He’d want her to be just like Lena. 

“I thought you hated that movie! You had an angry pout toward the end.”

Fareeha laughs at that. “That’s his way of avoiding the tears. He can’t cry if he pouts hard enough.”

Jack turns to her. “How did you figure it out?”

She gives him a sly smile. “Three words,” she holds up her fingers, “ _Bridge. To. Terabithia._ ”

Lena looks ready to cry and she’s smiling wide at Jack. “I knew you’d love that movie! Gosh, I’m so happy you enjoyed it!”

He waves her off, but he knows the importance. She’d just come out to their family. She’d talked about Emily coming to visit, how it would be the first time that they’d see her. See them, together. Jack knew their relationship was one similar to that of a father and daughter. The day she said her parents told her to never come back had made it clear. She’d stayed in his apartment and slept in his bed as he took the couch, until she announced she’d be moving in with Emily. They’d been friends, he’d taken care of her like a daughter. When she asks about his relationship with Vincent, right after it’s broken off, he tells her. He also reveals his want for the soft love that a lot of movies never showed him. She’d played Love, Simon as a love letter to Jack’s need to be loved. It worked. Now he has this cat, with the same name, and Jack hopes she understands that this is Jack’s love letter to the affection she used to carry him through when they were in the middle of the battlefields. She was young then, but so wise. She’s older here, much more wise, and she seems to understand. She throws her arms around him.

“I’m so glad you have someone to look after you, love.” She says quietly into his ear. 

Angela is next to pet the small cat. He immediately forgets about the window and shoves his face into the palm of her hand. 

He looks at everyone, having soft looks of adoration for this cat that somehow saves Jack from himself simply by being there.

“I wanted to thank you guys for being patient. I know my recovery hit you guys in different ways, and it was hard to watch. But I’m thankful for you all looking out for me. And I’m thankful that you recommended me to get a cat. He’s helped a lot.”

Angela smiles at him. “Anytime, Jack.”

“It ain’t never been much of a bother.” McCree says with a smile. 

Lena give him the brightest smile. “Remember you’re never alone, the cavalry’s here!”

When they file out, all giving Simon lots of love and promises to be back soon, the apartment is quiet. But for the first time in a long time he’s not hearing the deafening silence. He falls asleep to the sirens outside of his bedroom window. 

  
  


_ The men next to him are falling like dominoes. There's Levi, who's leaving behind a newborn son. There's Ali, only eighteen. Their bodies are falling all around him.  _

_ "We're securing the perimeter." He hears his commander, but the words hardly register. He's staring at the body a seven year old boy where he lay on the ground. His body is mangled, midsection gnarled with the blood and entrails spilling. Jack feels the bile rise in his throat. A boy. He's just a boy. Jack reaches for him but knows it's useless. The boy is gone. Jack is seeing red. Sees red in the blood and the flag that his country waved in his face to convince him this was the right choice. His ankle is broken. He's sweating in the scorching heat and prays that his water canteen will last him this mission.  _

_ “Morrison! Do you copy?” The voice over the comm shouts. His chest is beating. He sees a flash behind him, pulling his pulse rifle around and one of the enemies hits the deck. He’s breathing hard. Blood. Red. _

_ “Copy that. I’m right here.” He can hardly process that he's talking at all. _

_ “Morrison, they have a school cornered. There’s explosives. They say half your squadron is in there!” _

_ “I’m on my way.” He doesn't think, doesn't deliberate. The military didn't train him to think. He’s running. The full uniform used to feel so heavy. Now it’s weightless. The school is ten yards away. Nine yards... Eight yards... _

_ “Morrison, no!” The commander yells, “this zone is filled with IED bombs.” _

_ “It’s me or my men, sir, I know which one I’m gonna pick.” He knows he’s yelling but for some reason the words feel like they’re running through water. Everything hurts.  _

_ “Dammit, Morrison! Fall back!” _

_ “I can’t do that, sir!” Just as the words leave his mouth there’s a ringing. There’s a loud ringing. The kind that come from bombs. There’s white noise. He can’t see, he can’t hear. He only feels searing pain along his back. There’s blood, so much blood. He’s screaming in pain. The shrapnel got caught on his face. He’s screaming but his own ears don’t hear him. He remembers giving a single prayer to Vincent. Asking for forgiveness, for not being the man he always wanted Jack to be. He prays for his mother and father, hasn’t seen them since he left the farm on his eighteenth birthday. He remembers praying, god he doesn’t want to die here. He doesn’t want his body burned in the desert or sent to nowhere because there’s no home for him back in the states. Ana just gave birth, she won’t be able to plan his funeral. But she’ll have to. The shrapnel hurts. The explosive hit him. He’s going to die here, nothing to his name. He’s going to die here. **He’s going to die here.** Then suddenly he feels a sharp pain in his chest. There’s needles there. Prickling his chest. It’s sharp, so sharp. _

**_Sharp._ **

He jolts awake, almost instantly reaching for the gun in his bedside drawer, only to realize that it’s only Simon. He’s kneading his paws on Jack’s chest and while at first Jack had panicked, he finds himself coming to a slow breathing state. Relaxed. 

He pets the soft cat. “Thanks, buddy.”

Simon gives him a soft look and closes his eyes, finally resting right on Jack’s chest. 

Jack lets out a sigh. He thought they would stop. They haven’t stopped completely. But he’s glad that he hasn’t had them in months. He’s worried if they’ll happen again. Instead he opts to close his eyes and count breaths to the purring of Simon right on top of him. _Peaceful._

 

The next day is Jack’s day off and he’s relaxing in bed when he sees that Simon has already begun his meeting with his apartment buddy. They’re meowing and it’s nine in the morning, so Jack reaches to pull him away from the window. Until he notices something.

**_My asshole cat finally made a friend. His name is Theo by the way, what’s yours?_ **

Jack chuckles, looking down at Simon. “See that, Simon. Your friend’s name is Theo.”

He walks around the apartment all day considering what to write. He opts for a simple reply.

**_His name is Simon. And apparently he likes assholes._ **

Jack looks down at Simon. “Would you agree with that?”

The small pet just looks at him and swishes his tail. Jack scoffs.

“Figures.”

 

Gabriel is not expecting a response when he just posts a sheet of paper in the window. He thinks a desperate ploy for human connection, and an obvious attempt to hit on the hot blonde guy he’s seen across the courtyard who apparently likes cats. He’s writing it out as Theo and the cat meow at each other. He’s getting tired of their star crossed lovers schtick. But he’s a sucker for romance or platonic whatever-this-is, so he writes just two short sentences about Theo in the hopes that maybe Theo will meet his soulmate. One of them has to and since Gabe has officially resigned himself to play Fareeha’s crazy cat uncle he might as well go all in. 

The response comes later that day. Then another. And another. And now, a week later, he finds himself in front of apartment 306 with Theo on a harness, meowing loudly, as if he knows that right behind that door is the cat of his dreams. Gabriel would be kind of upset about his dramatics if he didn’t inherit them from Gabe himself. He’s poised to knock when the door opens.

The guy, Jack, smiles sheepishly. “Hi. Sorry, I could hear him outside and figured I’d speed up the process.”

Gabe chuckles, giving him a wink. “Yeah, he’s a bit of a screamer. Like his dad.”

Jack blushes, allowing them entrance into his apartment. Theo immediately spots Simon in the living room. They begin to rub against one another, scenting to their hearts content. They look so happy to be united. Gabriel almost feels bad for the thought of them leaving. He looks around the apartment discreetly, noticing how sparse it is despite the cat toys littered around. He sees a few medals that he himself has in his apartment tucked away from prying eyes. Military man. Gabriel can't deny that he's secretly pleased about that. Jack himself seems nervous but Gabe has his eyes transfixed on the fact that his cat has finally managed to find someone who tolerates him. Gabriel wishes he could say the same about himself.

Jack clears his throat. “Thank you for letting him come. Simon is a lover, and Theo keeps him company while I’m at work, so I appreciate it.”

Gabe looks at the two of them now rolling around together. They look so damn happy even Gabriel can’t deny it.

“It’s not totally selfless. I’m kind of a sucker for a story of star crossed lovers and it just seemed reasonable to let Theo meet the only cat he actually likes.”

Jack looks over at Theo in surprise. “Really? But he loves Simon so much!”

Gabriel snorts. “Yeah. Any other time he’s stealing pineapple slices and trying to attack anything else on four legs. Simon is special.”

Jack smiles at him. “I think so too. By the way, my full name is Jack Morrison. You can call me Jack.”

Gabe sees, for the first time, the freckles on his skin and the way his blue eyes remind him of spring time days in his youth. Before war, before death. Gabriel imagines that Jack Morrison was beautiful as a young man. His eyes drift to a book shelf where he sees a few photos propped up. He imagines him as idealistic soldier, well groomed and in his dress blues. Gabriel is pleased that his imagination is more than happy to provide him with the image, but also there's photos of Ana with Jack in their uniforms. He's not surprised to know that he also knows her. He is surprised to find that Jack with blonde hair is a vision. Even now he’s so handsome it almost takes his breath away. Gabriel finds himself smiling back.

“Gabriel Reyes.”

Jack looks into his hazel eyes and imagines quiet smiles over coffee on a lazy Sunday morning with the light streaming in. It’s in the color of his eyes and the way he stays late into the night.


End file.
